Gay Jewish–New Yorker and libertarian‐leaning classic liberal with some center‐right conservative views who is publishing on ▴ gay and ursine topics ▴ the public domain and freely licensed creative works ▴ Near Eastern, Central Asian, North African and Caucasian topics ▴ linguistics, particularly as relevant to the above populations ▴ Humanist, naturalist or Bright topics ▴ history, understood to include my own personal experiences in and occasionally out of my beloved native city.

…was “helped” to vote by someone with an invariably befuddled look on her face who confused the surname and given name of everyone on line. —2 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)She even “informed” a registered voter she was not registered, until her coworker, who was probably used to the ineptitude, caught the error before that voter was turned away.

[Video favorite.] Rachel Maddow Explores Right Wing Lying Echo Chamber—6 November (FF, Fb)▴ Republicans and conservatives are so evil that they feel they can lie anytime they like in order to promote their agenda. The world is a scary place on which to live when their constituents ignore the truth because lies make them feel better.▴ Some idiots believe that merely disagreeing with someone is an infringement on freedom of speech. Some idiots also believe that freedom of speech means that every person’s beliefs or anything that can be read in a book, a periodical or on the Internet is of equal validity. Thus they believe anything to be truthful if said by someone whom they support. They believe their choosing from any sources whatsoever the ones that make them feel best will result in finding unquestionable truths, especially if other idiots go along with it. This is not how reality works, numbskulls.▴ The conservative leaders are evil, their constituents are at best misguided, and the “middle management” just know how to echo the rhetoric. … Don’t get me started on why gays or anyone would want to support the military and its genocidal policies against Arabs and Afghans! Do you have any idea how much gays are suffering in ʻIraq since the US came in?

[Video favorite.] Bollywierd Clips – WTF—11 November (FF, Fb)▴ The song “Idhi oka nandanavanam” from the 1985 Telugu movie Adavi donga. When you have had enough of the original, take a look at a parody of it: 🔗.▴ Yes, the video is a fairly accurate depiction of a typical street scene here in Jackson Heights, except that on 73rd Street they’d be singing in Bengali. (Not a lot of Telugus in this neighb.)

…notes another great contribution Near Eastern people made to Western culture. 🔗—11 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…suspected even before reading this article that Yiddish meşugas משוגעת should probably be spelled ‏*משוגעות. http://bit.ly/COGc8📖—11 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…is excited an Amalgamated Bank will open in his neighborhood. —13 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)It is a labor bank in which I have had accounts for decades when I lived in the Bronx. Once the branch in Jackson Heights opens, I will no longer need to travel to Long Island City or Manhattan for transactions that need to be done in person. There’s a 24-hour a.t.m. closer to where I live that doesn’t charge me fees, but when it’s broken or empty of cash, I can trot down to 78th Street for a no-fee alternative.

…is winding down from a fun weekend that included the FurBall and Bear Den’s great Thanksgiving event. 🔗🐻—14 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…has finally, now that autumn is drawing to a close, finished uploading his New York pictures from the summer. http://on.fb.me/9F42Sa📷—18 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)▴ On DSCN4054 2010.08.29: It turns so‐so photographs into masterpieces. Some stunning photographs of me and friends have the view from this park in the background. And there was a time in my life when I’d visit this pier nearly every weekend in warmer months. —31 March 2012▴ That’s a good idea. I have not been to Gantry Plaza State Park, although a friend of mine shot some lovely pictures there. (Judy K., “Gantry Plaza State Park,” The Outdoor New Yorker, 8 May 2011.) —31 March 2012

☠ Eighteen-year-old Josh Wilkerson was bludgeoned to death after purportedly making sexual advances toward his killer. http://bit.ly/bPJiEv—19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

⚔ “Does Opposing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Bolster US Militarism?” 🔗—19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)▴ If only the gay movement or any movement could truly be “ending discrimination in all of its forms,” but there are so many issues affecting us that we must pick our battles wisely. Gay people face poverty, inadequate health care, workplace discrimination, elevated suicide and addiction rates and staggering violence. (Recently here in New York City, gay men were abducted and tortured in the Bronx.) However somewhere along the line, self-styled gay leaders decided that getting married and serving in the military were the issues that should get the most money and attention. The gay community should only be too happy to temporarily put DADT on the back burner so we can fight our biggest problems rather than contribute to these obscene wars that have killed thousands of people and are based on greed and the dehumanization of Near Eastern peoples.▴ … Had we somehow bundled (the repeal of DADT) with ENDA from the beginning, because ultimately it is an issue of employment discrimination, we might have avoided the glorification of the military, especially when people of color are so disproportionately employed by the military, and when the situation of gays in ʻIraq has deteriorated so dramatically since we took down their government. ¶… The gay movement could, for example, have made health care reform our biggest fight, putting our energies into obtaining a public option and securing health coverage for the large number of us who are dangerously underinsured. Instead we ignored it and made believe we would get health coverage if only we were allowed to marry, a ridiculous middle-class presumption that the gay uninsured are in committed relationships with people who already have coverage.

…misread “donated” as “detonated” in an update: “I went to a local church…and d[et]onated 2 turkeys and plenty of sides for the homeless.” (🔗) —28 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)I hope they weren’t still frozen!

04 January 2011

“If You Hadn’t (but You Did)” is a patter song composed by Jule Styne with a lyric by Betty Comden and Adolph Green from the 1951 Broadway revue Two on the Aisle and was introduced by Dolores Gray. One of the things I like best about the lyric is how easily the words are understood despite their extreme foreshortening to force a rhyme with if: terrif’, diff’, Pacif’, prolif’, beautif’, signif’, specif’ and certif’. Below is Dolores Gray’s performance from the original cast album.

“Who writes this stuff?”

Elyaqim Mosheh Adam (a.k.a. Mark) is a gay Jewish–New Yorker who promotes his photography, videography and writing here, and who may be reasonably expected to write on any combination of the following:

{The old description: Still trying to strike a balance between a mere cataloging of my experiences, rarely done in a timely manner, and writings about subjects that interest me (linguistics, history etc.).}